A structural maintenance program for an aircraft is typically defined during the design stage of the aircraft based on the theoretical utilization of the aircraft. The theoretical utilization is considered identical for all aircraft of a given type regardless of how they are actually operated in practice by the operator of the aircraft. Some usage-based maintenance methods for aircraft components are known where an estimation of fatigue damage that a specific component has experienced during its spent life is determined and used to modify a recommended maintenance program for that specific component. Such methods involve detailed analysis of the usage information available for the component in order to calculate the estimated fatigue damage experienced by the component. This is done on a case-by-case basis and therefore can be labor intensive and costly to carry out. In some cases, the cost associated with such methods might be too high to justify the potential cost savings associated with the modified maintenance program.